Judge barreling toward hallowed 500-homer club

Aaron Judge became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 350 career homers Saturday and it feels inevitable that the Bronx slugger will join the hallowed 500-homer club sometime in the next several years.He could have plenty of company.The 28-player group could swell significantly in the coming decade, with Yankees teammate Giancarlo Stanton (432), Mike Trout (395), Paul Goldschmidt (370), Manny Machado (359), Freddie Freeman (353), Nolan Arenado (351) and Bryce Harper (346) all within striking distance.Lurking a little further down the active leaderboard, Kyle Schwarber (314), Eugenio Suarez (307), Mookie Betts (282), Francisco Lindor (267), Shohei Ohtani (257) and Pete Alonso (247) are piling up big numbers and still in their early 30s.And then there's Juan Soto, who already has 224 homers at the tender age of 26.Some are stronger candidates than others, given their injury history and age. The 35-year-old Stanton has battled various ailments over the past several seasons, but has been productive when he's played.The 33-year-old Trout has been slowed by injuries, too, but hit enough homers in his 20s that it would be surprising if he didn't eventually reach the mark.This generation's group of sluggers is reminiscent of a stretch from 2001 to 2009, when Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Thome, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Frank Thomas and Gary Sheffield all made it to 500.The biggest difference is several of those players' accomplishments were tainted — at least to some — because it was part of a era that included widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs.The club has been relatively hard to join over the past decade. The last to reach 500 was Detroit's Miguel Cabrera on Aug. 22, 2021.Before that, Red Sox star David Ortiz slugged his 500th homer in 2015.Even among the elite sluggers, Judge stands out for the speed in which he's piling up dingers. Many forget he didn't play his first full big league season until he was 25, but the 33-year-old has needed just 1,088 games to reach 350 homers.Unsung non-starsThis group of players won't be featured at the All-Star game in Atlanta on Tuesday, but they are having great under-the-radar seasons through the first half.Ceddanne Rafalea, Red Sox: The 24-year-old center fielder has blossomed in his second full MLB season and is hitting .271 with 14 homers, 48 RBIs and 13 stolen bases, all while playing excellent defense.Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch, Cubs: Hoerner continues to be one of the game's best second basemen, batting .283 with 18 doubles, 39 RBIs and 16 stolen bases, all while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense. The 27-year-old Busch is batting .290 with 19 homers, providing the NL Central-leading Cubs some thump.Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies: The left-hander has been a big part of a stacked Philadelphia rotation with a 8-2 record, 2.50 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 115 innings. He put an exclamation point on his first half on Sunday, giving up just one run over 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 win over the Padres.Framber Valdez, Astros: The righty had a terrific first half with a 10-4 record, 2.75 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 121 innings.Trivia QuestionSoto's 224 career homers lead the pack for MLB players who haven't turned 30 years old. Who are the other players in their 20s that round out the top five?Here come the Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox have won 10 straight games heading into the All-Star break — their longest winning streak since 2018 — setting up an intriguing second half for a club that looked very average for most of the season's first three months.Rafaela has been one of the major catalysts for Boston's surge, hitting a walk-off homer on Friday night and another two-run homer in Sunday's win.The AL East race could be a barnburner as summer turns to fall with the Blue Jays (55-41), Yankees (53-43), Red Sox (53-45) and Rays (50-47) all in the mix. Even the last-place Orioles aren't completely out of it yet, sitting at 43-52 which is 11 1/2 games out of first place.Trivia Answer Rafael Devers (217), Ronald Acuna Jr. (177), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (172) are two through four. Yordan Alvarez and Austin Riley are tied for fifth at 167.Cody Bellinger has 212 homers but turned 30 on Sunday.